This invention relates to spring assemblies for use with tumbling boards, and more particularly, to such a spring assembly which is easily installed and which does not easily, though inadvertantly, disassemble.
In the gymnastic sport of tumbling, athletes perform various maneuvers on mats or the like, many of which require the athlete to spring high into the air with the maneuver being performed in mid air. This, of course, amongst other things, requires that the athlete have considerable "spring" in his or her legs. Frequently, in practice sessions, in order to teach the basics of the maneuver to be performed in mid air, the spring in the athlete's legs is artificially enhanced through the use of tumbling boards which support the mat on which the athlete is performing. In the usual case, the tumbling board is formed of one or more large sheets of any suitable material which are interconnected by any suitable means if more than one is used. A plurality of spring assemblies are secured to the underside of each such board and support the board in slightly elevated fashion, frequently on the order of two inches, above the underlying floor or the like. Consequently, the athlete performing on such a tumbling board, while moving downwardly under the influence of gravity, upon impacting against the mat supported by the tumbling board will cause compression of the springs. After initial compression of the springs due to the inertia of the athlete, the springs attempt to elevate the tumbling board and move the athlete upwardly thereby providing the aforementioned artificial assist to the spring in the athlete's legs.
Heretofore, such spring assemblies have typically been in the form of helical springs of perhaps two inches in length and a one inch diameter. The springs are secured at designated locations to the underside of the tumbling board by washers placed between adjacent convolutions of the spring near one end thereof with the washers then receiving a threaded fastener or the like. Thus, the washers sandwich one end of the associated spring against the board and in turn are held in place by a fastener.
Because the washers must be properly positioned in the spring ends, and care must be taken when the fastener is applied through the washer to prevent the washer from moving from its proper position relative to the spring, fabrication of such boards is extremely time consuming, particularly when it is considered that a typical four foot by eight foot sheet forming one tumbling board will require between 50 and 100 such spring assemblies.
Moreover, during use, the forces applied to such spring assemblies are not strictly axially of the spring with the consequence that the spring end will tend to move relative to the tumbling board and the washer secured thereto, again resulting in the spring becoming disassembled from the tumbling board thereby requiring time consuming reinstallation.